Just how many waves of controversy will we have to endure that emanate out of Dwaine Caraway's ignominious departure from public life?

We get it that when the mayor pro tem has to resign in disgrace after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges, there will be some fallout. But just what exactly was Dallas City Councilman Philip Kingston thinking when he seemingly impugned the ethics of the two African-American members of the council being talked about for mayor pro tem?

Kingston is known for his blunt talk. But now — at the front end of a scramble over who will be the next mayor — he is demonstrating that he'll never be a kingmaker in this town (or king himself) as he meanders the Dallas political landscape.

Ostensibly, Kingston was trying to make the case for his political ally, Sandy Greyson, to be selected mayor pro tem by her council peers. The problem is that there is a long-standing tradition in racially diverse Dallas that the council select a mayor pro tem who is of a different race than the mayor. And Greyson is, like Mayor Mike Rawlings, white. Breaking with this tradition, Kingston said the council needed to pick someone who is "most above reproach."

Pardon the parsing of such a statement, but the implication of such a comment was that Casey Thomas and Tennell Atkins are somehow not above reproach.

If Kingston has a public accusation to make, he should make it. Or if he simply believes the tradition has outlived its usefulness, he should make a run at upturning it directly. Otherwise, he is merely doing himself a disservice (his comment doesn't reflect his good record on race issues) while subjecting the rest of us to a fresh round of pointless jibber-jabber.